Everybody's Getting Drunk at the Holiday Party - And Not Because It's Fun

There’s an ugly animal that rears its head every year around this time: the annual company party. From November through the New Year, companies big and small will be hosting events for employees, thanking them for another year of service with a holiday-themed good time. Each year we see new statistics that illustrate how “one-too-many” at the office shindig can lead to infidelity, arrests, car accidents and job loss.

But a new survey out this week shows that the problem might be wider spread than we thought, and it’s author says it paints a pretty bleak picture. According to the survey, 52% of employed professionals say they have seen someone under the influence of alcohol at a company-sponsored event whose behavior crossed the line from embarrassing to inappropriate to downright dangerous.

But what’s new is that we’re not drinking to let loose or celebrate with friends, we’re drinking to self-medicate. And at a time when just about everyone’s expendable, Harris Stratyner, Ph.D., Regional Clinical Vice President of Caron Treatment Center and one of the leads on the survey says it’s a very bad road to go down.

Stratyner says: “In a time when people are dying to find jobs and can’t feed their kids and we see protests and economic challenges and people losing their homes everywhere we look, this kind of pathological drinking amazes me.”

The 34-year veteran of clinical psychology, whose clients include Wall Streeters and Main Streeters says that more and more the urge to over-indulge is coming from a much darker place than the fun (if potentially-awkward) holiday toasts of Christmas parties past. “In the past people were drinking because they were socially phobic or they needed to blow off steam at the end of the year,” he says. “Now they’re over-doing it because their bonuses were decreased, their hours have gone up or their job security isn’t as safe as it used to be.” In short: less fun, more fear, more anger.

And an angry drunk does not a happy party make. According to survey findings:

· 30% have seen someone flirt with a co-worker or supervisor

· 28% witnessed a fellow party-goer drive drunk

· 26% indicated a colleague or supervisor shared inappropriate details about themselves or a co-worker

· 19% witnessed someone arguing or becoming aggressive with a colleague or supervisor

· 9% claimed co-workers or supervisors engaged in sexual activity while under the influence of alcohol

Of course, it’s important to note that this was a survey of finger-pointers. Their “coworkers” drink too much and their “coworkers” behave badly. Chances are, he says, there was more than a little bit of projection in their responses. “There’s a much greater tendency for people to comment on other people’s [behavior] than to out themselves,” he says. “Denial, projection and rationalization are the best ways to protect the ego.”More than 52% of people have seen someone under the influence, to which Stratyner says, “A number so high that you have to think that they might include themselves.”

So we’re all drinking too much and for all the wrong reasons this holiday season, and while as an addiction professional Stratyner’s advice is to seek help, the common takeaway from a reveal like this is to do some serious self-examination before you RSVP to the annual party. Assess your attitude, your drinking habits and your job security, and above all, keep your celebratory cocktails to a minimum.

If you’re willing to jeopardize your livelihood by angry-boozing with coworkers at a time when 9% of the country is struggling to find work, you’ve got issues, he says. “Unemployed America can’t drink at a company party. And you’re gonna catch a buzz at the company party?”

Bottom line: Check yourself before you wreck yourself this holiday season, lest you wind up with no company party to attend at all.

Follow me @Meg_Casserly (who will be having just a single glass of wine this December 14th) on Twitter.